I really like the focus on nemtech/catapult in this proposal. We all know the NF needs a new structur and has alot of things to do besides catapult and with NEM Labs i feel like we have another option to bring out catapult as fast as possible

Great effort for writing up the proposal. I think working towards making Catapult attractive to developers and supporting community projects that are building on Catapult, is a good idea. NF has to deal with many things at the moment, so having the support of NEM Labs will help the whole NEM ecosystem to stay productive and don’t lose its focus.

Can I please ask,the “NEMsps (Service Partners)”’ are different from the “NEM Service Providers” which the NEM Foundation funding proposal describes, correct?What’s the essential difference, if any?
I intended to make my business an SP, one or the other - but am a bit confused now. In case LABS and FOUNDATION got funded, then I could(should?) register with both?
I apologize if the above question was answered elsewhere and I had overlooked it.
Rene, LuxTag.io

the “NEMsps (Service Partners)”’ are different from the “NEM Service Providers” which the NEM Foundation funding proposal describes, correct?

Just like with Clouds (Amazon, Google, Microsoft) and many other industries, they do not build projects themselves. They have a network of Service Partners to introduce projects to, because it is scalable, and very low on internal human resources, keeping costs to the absolute minimum. They didn’t grow to the size they are today just by being lucky! We want that for NEM!

A NEM Service Partner (NEMsp) is actually a competent entity that has been trained and certified to build on the NEM technology. Example: you approach us because you have a project to build, and would like to use NEM, but do not have the ability to do the actual development work, or want to keep your dev resources focused on developing your own product. We introduce you to a certified partner whom we have trained and tested - usually Systems Integrators - that can build it all for you from start to finish.

But you don’t have to rely on us for an introduction. You can contact any certified partner yourself and choose the NEMsp that suits you best. NEM Labs focuses on training, certification and quality assurance of capable partners to grow the NEM ecosystem.

Soon, there will be consulting partners and alike for projects which are not at the build stage yet. We have successfully completed the trial phase with 9 companies. These are a few of them so you can get an idea of what they look like, and what they can do:www.unibright.iowww.cryptodus.comblockchain.swisscom.com

By introducing projects to these partners, and gaining more partners, we are very scalable and can rapidly expand while remaining very light on human resources. Just 1 person has run the trial, of course, the technical material/training and other aspects have been a team effort - we help each other out on all things when needed.

Another example: LuxTag could also benefit from NEMsp. You could sell LuxTag solutions through the upcoming NEMsp Marketplace, utilising the whole NEMsp network as your salesforce. Additionally, LuxTag could become a consulting partner once we introduce that partner type.

What’s the essential difference, if any?

NEM Labs: NEMsp is a global service partner network like APN (AWS Partner Network) that can be used by anybody in the NEM ecosystem to get projects built.

NEM Foundation: NEM Foundation utilises service providers for RFP (Request for proposal). There is a good chance that some certified NEMsp will also enter bids for these RFP when there are projects to be built, consulting to be done and alike.

Hi @sheepXcat, @joswig and @spizzerb! Thank you all for your kind words – we have worked hard to put a quality business plan and proposal together for the NEM community. We appreciate you recognising our effort!

We really are humbled that you and the NEM community in general is seeing the value in what NEM Labs can bring to the NEM ecosystem, and yes, we will be living, eating and breathing Catapult! We want it released as much as the community does!

Hello NEMbers, my general point of view is that both entities NF and NEM Labs deserve to be funded. Let me explain why.

I have been active with NEM for a few years now, coding B2B and B2C software mostly. During this time I had the chance to work closely with some people from the new council but also with the NEM Europe team.

There will not be a comparison of both in my thoughts. I prefer to tell you as simple as it is: Both teams are legit entities trying to do their best to give us a better ecosystem.

When I started with NEM, I had my other professional contractors and did all here just for fun (PacNEM ^^). Money is in fact really not what I am looking into when I discuss the potential of NEM. I am here because NEM is easy to integrate into businesses and as well easy to work with.

Somewhere in 2018, I got the chance to hop on the NEM Europe train which was comprised of several great actors of our community. And I can tell you this has been a great experience all along. The people are very knowledgeable, not only with DLTs but with business software in general.

The future NEM Labs team already has produced a lot of content regarding catapult (nemtech contributions) with works on the REST server, documentation (+++), and SDKs. This is not to be ignored. It is in fact exactly what the community needs: an active entity concentrating most of its resources into catapult development.

Then came NEMsp, which was already a win in its pilot phase. With NEMsp, NEM Europe has not only defined a good way to train service partners but it also has defined a scalable and revenue driven approach to business development. Just the one example of Unibright with Deutsche Bahn is an amazing example. Now when NEMsp can be globalized, anyone in the NEM community will profit from it, knowing the list of service partners will be extended.

We are here all together to make NEM great. This is why I believe the NEM Labs team deserves funding. Not out of personal interest, but because I think that there are very important actors in this team who can change a lot of things through their professionalism, knowledge and contributions.

There are certain individuals who are probably competent developers in nem ecosystem but they prefer to hide , yet community should provide 3M for their salary. I don’t see in my wildest imagination that happening. In the other words you can write similar proposal for cancer cure or
genome editing and outcome will be the same with same question asked who are we funding.
If you are confused with my rambling check Cardano developer disclosure.

What makes things even more difficult is that block-chain tech with smart contract(s) (onto or in chain) is already out there , what new catapult is going to bring on the table ? Is that contribution worth 3M USD ?

At the end of the first post, there is a link under Business Plan with 35 pages long proposal.
Please read it before asking more questions so the forum is not overwhelmed by spam. The team is lead by Kristof and Paul, well-known public figures in NEM community.
Also overview of catapult might help answer your questions: https://nem.io/catapult/

Yes, business plan disclosed two individuals Kristof Van de Reck and Paul Rieger, there is nothing about developers and their skill set (academic/industry contribution) , this is where investment story ends for me …
Posting catapult link does not answer simple question, why another smart contract system, on top of already developed and in use smart cont. technologies.

Not everybody wants to be public and that has to be respected. We list the positions of all staff here and instead of asking for qualifications, results speak for themselves. You can check the contributions of our technical staff, please click here.

why another smart contract system, on top of already developed and in use smart cont. technologies.

I was proposing this in Vietnam and (ultimately the region) as well. Unfortunate, we had lacked leadership to even share this occurred (I found out by accident). But when I approached it, it was declined and I was told we had no programs like this.

Hi Kimble , although NEMsp was a NEM Europe initiative it was always the intention to roll out globally but the pilot proved there was a need for some improvements before we did. I’m not sure why anyone told you we didn’t have the NEMsp program though.
You can find more info about the global rollout here.

Likely because I had requested this program around March/April time (perhaps this was not rolled out yet), either way I wasnt informed afterwards.

In Vietnam we had trained up to System Integrator (with others who were interested) plus some Crypto Funds helped others integrate NEM as well. So we missed an opportunity to coordinate that well, perhaps the Labs program will be replicated / expand in Asia.

I admired the work that NEM europe has achieved and their focus on Development.
Business plan looks solid and I feel that NEM Labs will help speed up development during the time when Alex is going to have her hands tied rebuilding the NF.
This will mean that NEM Labs can continue doing what they were doing as NEM europe and support the NF.

Its also beneficial as mitigating risk to have another entity independent that can work on NEM development.
I definitely will be voting to support both proposals.